Is it accurate to look at another person and think "I'm imagining them"

[Flowerfaeiry]

or is that just the ego mind saying that? Do you have to sort of get past the layers of deception in order to say that accurately or can I essentially walk around thinking about how I am imagining all this stuff? 

[James12345]

@Flowerfaeiry forget about other person, “you” is a imagination or thought itself.

[The0Self]

What you are is imagining them (what is, is them) -- that's if the definition of imagination is "story" or infinite consciousness (not "experience"). Ultimately there is no separation of any kind at all though, so every insight you have into this has no meaning. But yeah it certainly is more true that you are imagining them than they are a separate individual. You learned, believed, and now experience that there are separate people and that you are one of those.

[Endangered-EGO]

@Flowerfaeiry Why would you do that?

This won't do/help anything.

 

What I tend to do, is when I view a building I notice the imagination about the building while looking at the building. Or when I am with people I inquire into thoughts about there being people looking at "me".

I'm also mot sure this is going to lead Somewhere, but it's showing me how my thoughts construct reality.

[Flowerfaeiry]

Just now, Endangered-EGO said:

This won't do/help anything

You don't think? I mean it does make me feel more connected. 

2 minutes ago, Endangered-EGO said:

What I tend to do, is when I view a building I notice the imagination about the building while looking at the building. Or when I am with people I inquire into thoughts about there being people looking at "me".

I'm also mot sure this is going to lead Somewhere, but it's showing me how my thoughts construct reality.

Yea, how is that different from my imagination? 

[Endangered-EGO]

@Flowerfaeiry I meant I differentiate the raw perception from the thought as much as I can, and observe both.

For example I have thoughts about what's inside a building, even though I am only perceiving the outside. Like from the minds eye.

With people I differentiate perceiving people/bodies from the thoughts about a conscious-agent-soul looking at me. Maybe we're doing the same thing but phrased it differently?

Edited September 6, 2021 by Endangered-EGO
Addition

[Flowerfaeiry]

@Endangered-EGO ok gotcha. 

[Tim R]

10 minutes ago, Flowerfaeiry said:

Is it accurate to look at another person and think "I'm imagining them"?

Not quite. 

Because so long as it's a mere thought, it's perfectly meaningless to you. You might as well think that materialism is true or that other people have been created by the Christian god. This is all fantasy, as far as you're concerned. Because it isn't yet grounded in actual insight. This is very important to understand;

It's like asking "is it accurate to think that reality a dream?" and the answer is: no! you can't know that reality is a dream until you have awoken from it and recognize that it was just a dream. You see?

Just like in an actual dream. Only upon awakening from the dream do you realize that it was all a dream. Or if you become lucid, which is essentially the same as awakening within the dream, but the main point is that you realize it to be a dream. 

"Dream" is just another word for "imagination". When you awaken from a dream/become lucid during the dream, you realize that it's just your imagination. But if you don't awaken to that and during the dream some dream character comes up to you and tells you "hey, you know, actually this is all just imaginary", it doesn't mean anything to you! until you actually awake for yourself. 

Otherwise your thought of imagination is still only part of the dream that you have bought into and are still buying into and thus are not realizing to be a dream. That's why the thought isn't enough.

And the fact that you're asking this tells you that you haven't yet awoken to imagination - otherwise you wouldn't ask and it would be perfectly    obvious! just like when you awake / become lucid

This is the duality of dream and awakening; It takes the awakening to realize the dream. 

[SriSriJustinBieber]

Yes if you are able to really feel into it and not just have it as a thought you conjure up from time to time.

If you are able to, which I think you are, I would suggest instead to say to yourself "I am the One"

In certain advaita teachings, this is basically the path of conviction. For example, Vasishta, one of hinduism founding sages, wrote:

"Burn the forest of duality with the fire of the conviction, ‘I am the one pure Consciousness’ and remain happy. You are bound firmly on all sides by the idea, 'I am the body’. Cut that bond by the sword of knowledge ‘I am Consciousness’ and be happy."

So what he says here is basically that if you have enoug faith, if you are able to become instantly convinced, you can cut through layers and layers of delusion without even meditating or inquiring. My experience with this is that it is not an easy route, for things will pop up to try to derail you from the conviction and therefore will either need to be used as a confirmation of the conviction, or to be addressed by coming back to inquiry/meditation if it just is too intense and makes you feel like you are lying to yourself.

Edited September 6, 2021 by SriSriJustinBieber

[impulse9]

It's funnier than that, because you're imagining that you're imagining that you're imagining them. Words make no sense and it's unwise to rely on words.

[Nobody_Here]

Yes: You imagine them, they imagine you, you both imagine yourselves, and Reality is simply Imagination Itself. You can keep deconstructing everything to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, but it's infinitely deep. 

[Flowerfaeiry]

23 minutes ago, Tim R said:

And the fact that you're asking this tells you that you haven't yet awoken to imagination - otherwise you wouldn't ask and it would be perfectly    obvious!

I take offense to this hahahaha. 

 

You're absolutely right though. I've only caught glimpses. 

[Tim R]

@Flowerfaeiry Didn't mean it like that? The point is that thought alone won't lead you anywhere. Telling yourself that everything is imaginary won't lead you to actually realizing that. 

"Everyone is me". Is it accurate to look at other people as me? Only if I have awoken to the fact that this is so. Otherwise it's just a meaningless thought. 

I mean go ahead, do as you like. But the thought "imagination" is not the same as imagination. 

[Nahm]

Another person seems to be a thought of a person, by a person… but there aren’t people, a person, things, or thoughts.  

 

[Danioover9000]

@Flowerfaeiry

7 hours ago, Flowerfaeiry said:

or is that just the ego mind saying that? Do you have to sort of get past the layers of deception in order to say that accurately or can I essentially walk around thinking about how I am imagining all this stuff? 

   No, if it's a gut feeling, a tingling, or a quick emotional knowing, a knowing from a dream, or any psychic sensation. Other than that, the ego mind can say that too, mostly voice.

   I'm doing a spiritual practice that specifically goes into imagination of other beings and locations, and what I found so far is that there are layers of deception that need to be bypassed to say that others are your imagination.

   You can also actively walk around thinking about this too, like many other thoughts during the day.

[Virgo]

Well I think that everything is part of your creation or creation. I don't think you are imagining them it's just that the perception of that something else it might be an illusion. In my opinion everything is real. I have memories when I was really young like 1 years old and how I remember percieving reality was so weird. I had no though whatsoever in my mind and everything I was looking at I was curious to touch it or know what was that object or thing about. And If I remember well I cared only about experiencing staff rather than intellectually understanding it. I guess it was just a stage of development and brain capacity. Then later I was more interested in how things work, by destroying a bunch of electronics ???

[Leo Gura]

Remember though that imagination IS reality. So if you imagine it hard enough it is as real as real gets.

Like when you are dreaming it feels totally real, until you wake up.

It's not complicated. It works just like in a dream.

[Cepzeu]

Makes no difference :). if you step on a shit, there will still be shit on your shoe whether you believe you are in external reality or whether you are imagining all of it. In the land of absolute, imagination = reality. All of it is imagination, but because there is nothing outside of it, it may as well be reality, in fact it is, because there is nothing else it could be. It is all one.

[Dazgwny]

@Tim R Spot on. Not directly connected to this question, but I had a dream within a dream last night. I went to bed in the dream, fell asleep and astral projected from that supposed sleeping dream body, so became lucid as I knew was astral projecting, fucked about a bit went on some travels. Reawakened from the projection back into the dream body. Convinced it was real life, lost my lucidity and became wrapped up in the dream again convinced it was reality. Only then to awaken in my bed this morning into this reality. Gobsmacked I’d fallen for it. Then lay there for a few minutes gobsmacked at the fact I’m now falling for this too?. And still falling for it now as I type out this. As this is now what feels real. Previous awakenings enable me to know this is not the case. But I’m still locked in it because as Leo says, I’m imagining it so fucking hard. Out of ego’s control

[Tim R]

@Dazgwny Wow, that's a juicy mindfuck? There's a nice German word for this: "Schachteltraum"; Schachtel - "box" and Traum - "dream".